


plate

by void_glitter



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: AU, Child Abuse, Injury, not a happy fic!, other details inside, please be careful and mindful and if you feel you can't handle something like this dont read it, thank you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2019-05-28
Packaged: 2020-03-20 14:49:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18994789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/void_glitter/pseuds/void_glitter
Summary: For a long minute, she can't see much.Just bits of light and broken-up shapes and the black of her aunt's hair.





	plate

**Author's Note:**

> alright, so:  
> 1) this is both a vent fic, and a bit of backstory-ish stuff for the au i've written a few fics for.  
> 2) this is directly based on something that's happened to me. it was a kind of therapy to write it because it's been on my mind for a long time.  
> 3) this isn't edgy, 'grim' kids show stuff or anything like that. this is written from experience.  
> 4) please be mindful while reading this. the last thing i want is for anyone to be triggered by my writing.

The first time Lena gets hit, she's eight years old. 

She had been washing her lunch dishes, when it happened. She was standing on her tippy-toes next to the sink, washing the plate and butter-knife she used, when she accidentally dropped her plate. 

And it broke. 

"Uh-oh," She says quietly, picking up one of the broken, wet shards of ceramic. It only broke into a few pieces, so maybe Lena can find some glue, and put it back together!  


She turns off the sink, dries her hands, and takes out the pieces of the plate. 

She sets them all together on the counter, carefully, so she doesn't cut her fingers. It'll be easy to fix! 

While she searches the kitchen for glue, she hears her aunt's bedroom door open, for the first time all day. 

She had told her, when Lena came in to check on her, that she wasn't feeling well, and that she would have to take care of herself for a little while that day. Of course, seeing as Lena is the independent type of child, she had been delighted. 

Magica walks into the kitchen, her hair a mess, and watches Lena for a long moment, from the doorway.

"Hi, Auntie." Lena says in acknowledgment, still digging through their junk drawer for glue. She's on her toes again, still slightly too short to reach their high counters easily.  


"...You broke something." Magica's voice is flat. She sounds like she has a cold, which Lena supposes she might. "Didn't you?"

"Yes-- found it!" Lena interrupts herself with her triumphant finding of the glue. "Yes, I broke a plate, but I'm gonna fix it!" She grins, turning around and holding up the bottle of super-glue proudly.

She expects Magica to react as she usually does--

a sigh, a fond little smile. Perhaps a pat on the head.

She's not the best or most affectionate parent, but she does her best.

Instead, Lena's vision is suddenly all fractured, her cheek hurts, and she's on the tile floor of their kitchen.

For a long minute, she can't see much.

Just bits of light and broken-up shapes and the black of her aunt's hair.

She's talking, too, voice pitched and angry,

but none of the words make sense.

And then,

with everything snapping into terribly sharp relief,

Lena realizes what happened.

 _Magica slapped her_.

The tears start before she can even think about it,

dripping from her eyes,

sliding down the curve of her bill and off her chin.

They land with an inaudible plop on the tiles serving as her pillow.

The words make sense, now. "I don't know why you said you can take care of yourself for a few hours, when you obviously can't!" Magica says, and Lena's jerked from the floor by her thin wrist. "Get up, clean up the mess you made."

"O-okay," Lena hiccups, through tears. The bottle of glue is held tight in her hand, her fingers subconsciously having tightened to the point of pain around it when she fell.  
Magica releases her wrist, and she stumbles to the counter.

Her hands are shaking. Why are they shaking? She feels sick.

With her shaking fingers, she puts glue on the broken edges of the plate's pieces, pushing them together, holding them until the glue sets.

Her aunt leaves the room, but the angry presence she leaves sticks to Lena like the glue catching on her fingertips, taking a few feathers with them.

Her cheek stings like a burn.

She's never really made Magica angry before. And maybe that's a good thing, because if this is how she gets, Lena shouldn't do it again.

She finishes fixing the plate.

She puts it away in the cabinet.

She washes all the dishes, not just her own, because maybe if she cleans up more than the mess she made, Magica won't be mad anymore.

 

(When she goes to bed that night, Magica comes in to tuck her in. They didn't talk at all between the incident in the kitchen and then,

and the sight of her makes the stinging burn come back.

"I'm sorry." Magica says, tugging Lena's favorite patchwork quilt up to her neck. She lays stiffly below it. "I wasn't feeling well today, and I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

She does look apologetic, and she does look sick.

"It's okay," Lena says, because she knows she's supposed to. She tries not to flinch when Magica kisses her forehead. "I shouldn't have broken the plate. I'll... um, I'll be more careful next time."

Magica smiles. It doesn't reach her eyes.

"Good, that should fix the problem, then."

She walks to the door, flicking off the light. Long shadows coat the room, only dispelled by Lena's pink-tinted lamp, next to her bed.

"Goodnight, Lena."

"Goodnight, Aunt Magica.")

(That day is only the first time Lena's hit. But not the last, not by far.) 


End file.
